CHAVEZ: MAKING FRIENDS AND INFLUENCING PEOPLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001105

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ: MAKING FRIENDS AND INFLUENCING PEOPLE

Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(d)

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Summary
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1. (C) One of President Hugo Chavez's principal mechanisms
for influencing regional leaders have been international
conferences such as the Bolivarian People's Congresses, a
push to spread his ideology and influence through a
conference similar to Cuba's Tri-Continental Congress in the
1960's. Many of those attending the Congresses are involved
in political activity aimed at exploiting unstable or fragile
situations in their countries, such as Bolivia's Evo Morales.
The recent dispute between Colombia and Venezuela over the
capture of FARC leader Rodrigo Granda after he attended the
Second Bolivarian Congress in December 2004 illustrated the
range of organizations that participate. While the
Congresses are an overt forum for leftist revolutionary
personalities such as Sandinistas Tomas Borges and Daniel
Ortega and FMLN leader Schafik Handal, it is suspected that
they provide an opportunity for Chavez to come through with
direct assistance. The next Congress is scheduled for April
14-16. End Summary.

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International Conferences, Radical Elements
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2. (U) One of President Hugo Chavez's mechanisms for
exporting his "Bolivarian revolution" and expanding contact
with sympathetic and extremist regional leaders has been the
Bolivarian People's Congresses in November 2003 and December
2004, beginning with the planning meeting in August 2003.
The Second Congress dubbed 2005 the "Year of the Offensive
and Advance of Unity of the Peoples of Latin American and the
Caribbean" and established a permanent Secretariat in
Caracas. Similar gatherings such as the 4th annual
International Social Debt Conference in February, and the
Conference of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of
Humanity in December 2004, also created opportunities for
Chavez to expand his circle of influence. The next Bolivarian
People's Congress is scheduled for April 14-16.


3. (C) The meetings' purported goals of uniting Latin
America's "popular" political and social forces to coordinate
and cooperate in fighting for "liberation" include messages
that are anti-imperialist, anti-neoliberalist,
anti-globalization and free-trade, and often are
anti-American. Participants include leftist and socialist
leaders, indigenous representatives, and former guerrilla
leaders turned politicians. The conferences are an
opportunity to publicly build links between these players.
Privately, the meetings also give Chavez access to build
personal relationships and offer suggestions and support to
visiting organizers of popular movements. Alberto Garrido,
who has written several books on Chavez, said in a December
2003 interview, "The internationalization of the Bolivarian
Revolution is through the Bolivarian People's Congress."

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In Cuba: Taking a Page Out of Castro's Book
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4. (U) The Bolivarian Congresses are similar to Castro's
Tricontinental Congresses first held in Havana in 1966 and
known as "First Conference of Solidarity of the Peoples of
Africa, Asia, and Latin America." Indeed, Chavez is probably
the only Latin leader other than Castro who has publicly
mentioned the "tricontinental" and "Bandung" conferences.
While the Bolivarian Congresses seem more regional in focus,
they also include radical Palestinian political leaders as
did Castro's 1966 version. Substitute anti-colonialism for
anti-globalization, anti-neocolonialism for
anti-neoliberalism, keep anti-imperialism as a trademark,
focus the anti-American movement on leaders in vulnerable
countries in Latin America rather than three continents, add
40 years--and the Bolivarian Congresses are born. The
Congress participants self-declared goal is uniting Latin
America's "popular" (populist) political and social forces to
coordinate and cooperate in fighting for "liberation."

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Bolivia: Democratic Instability
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5. (C) Bolivian Movimiento al Socialismo's (MAS) Evo Morales
was in Caracas for both the first and second Bolivarian
Congresses, as well as the February debt forum. Chavez, who
Morales publicly acknowledges as a friend and the regional
leader he most relates to, meets privately with Morales
during his visits. Observers speculate that Morales' grabs
for power, incitations to riot, and speeches full of rhetoric
are influenced and encouraged by his private talks with
Chavez. Morales' recent allegations of intensified efforts
to plot his assassination, published on the Bolivarian
Congress' website, echo Chavez's own repeated claims that the
USG would like to assassinate him.


6. (C) While Morales has been more in the Bolivarian
limelight recently, Chavez has also cultivated ties with
another of Bolivia's leftist indigenous leaders, ex-guerrilla
Felipe Quispe, whose push for a "participatory democracy"
coincides with Chavez's. Sumate's Alejandro Plaz, speaking
to a U.S. official April 2, used Bolivia as an example of how
Chavez uses the threat of turning the left against a
vulnerable leader to neutralize critics and forge alliances.
El Universal's assistant political editor, Ernesto Ecarri,
called Chavez's approach to other regional leaders
"aggressive domination."

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Colombia: Insecurity Across the Border
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7. (U) The capture of FARC "Foreign Minister" Rodrigo Granda
in December 2004 caused a scandal and tensions between
Colombia and Venezuela. The FARC communique said Granda's
presence in Venezuela was at the request, and with the
approval, of the GOV. The GOV sought to divert attention
from Granda's presence in Venezuela, but it soon became
public knowledge that not only had Granda participated in the
December Bolivarian Congress, but he had Venezuelan identity
documents and reportedly even voted in the August recall
referendum. The evidence of the FARC's presence in Venezuela
lent credence to allegations that Chavez supports the FARC.

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Peru: Democracy By Violence
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8. (U) Former Peruvian Army officer Antauro Humala, and
leader of the Ethno-Cacerista New Year's Eve 2005 aborted
attempt to takeover a Peruvian National Police station,
visited Caracas in December 2004 and participated in the
panel discussion on "The People and the Armed Forces." Press
sources report that Humala has received funding from Chavez,
but there is no confirmation.

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Ecuador: Indigenous Movements Support Chavez
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9. (U) Gilberto Talahua, member of Ecuador's Pachakutick
movement, political arm of CONAIE, attended the December 2004
Bolivarian Congress as did other leaders of CONAIE and
ECUARUNAI. Chavez has also hosted Pachakutick
representatives on his Sunday television show numerous times
over the past two years at least, an indication that the
links extend beyond participation in the Bolivarian
Congresses.

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Mexico: Brief Encounters
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10. (U) In May 2004, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Mexico,
Lino Martinez, had harsh words for President Vicente Fox and
compared the Mexican political situation to the situation in
Venezuela before Chavez came to power. Martinez called
Mexico City Mayor Andres Lopez Obrador a "ray of hope" and
also named Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the "moral leader of the
PRD," as another potential leader for Mexico. Observers note
that Cardenas was a speaker and participant in Chavez's
August 2003 planning session for the Bolivarian Congress. He
also met with Chavez in Mexico in January 2004, shortly
before Martinez's statements identifying Cardenas and Lopez
as leaders in Mexico.

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Central America--Hand in the Pot
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11. (C) In Guatemala, reporting indicates that the government
suspects Chavez of using the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional
Guatemalteca (URNG) or Alianza Nueva Nacion (ANN) to fund
public protests and buy political loyalties from left-wing
parties. El Salvador's Jorge Schafik Handal an ex-guerrilla
and founder of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front
(FMLN) has been both participant and speaker at the
Bolivarian Congresses. While he lost the March 2004
presidential elections, Schafik and the FMLN had public and
financial support, according to public statements from FMLN
officials, from the Bolivarian Congress organization.
Nicaragua's Sandinista National Liberation Front (SNLF)
founder Tomas Borges and former Sandinista President Daniel
Ortega have been active participants in both Congresses, as
well as guests of the GOV.

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Comment
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12. (C) Using the Bolivarian Congresses as a public meeting
place to form personal relationships, Chavez exploits the
occasions to bolster radical left-wing movements throughout
Latin America. He exploits the visits and conversations with
Bolivarian Congress attendees to develop stronger relations
in support of his revolutionary goals. While
anti-imperialism, i.e. anti-American sentiment, is often a
hook with many indigenous leaders, Chavez also capitalizes on
racial or ethnic tensions. In countries like Peru, Bolivia
and Ecuador he uses these tensions to encourage mass protests
and demonstrations and to undermine shaky governments or
weaken others from the left flank. Chavez's support for
radical political and guerrilla leaders in countries like
Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua and El Salvador can weaken
fragile democracies, foster regional insecurity, and increase
regional tensions. While calling for integration with South
American leaders he considers sympathetic to his ideals
including anti-imperialism, anti-Americanism, and
anti-neoliberalism Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez
befriends radical political and social leaders whose interest
in "liberation" is not always accompanied by an interest in
peace or democracy.
Brownfield


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2005CARACA01105 - CONFIDENTIAL